Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-07-16
WHISKY CONSUMPTION.
Is the Taste for whisky DecIin-
ing i'm the United states?
fFrOm the New Orleans picayune.

from the new orleans P1cayune.
Before the war the common drink
throughout the South was brandy, inn
ported cognac. After the war the
high duty on imported spirits COM
bined with the reduced financial con-
dition of the Southern people to make
brandy too expensive and it has gone
out of common use as beverage, its
place being taken by whisky. Whisky
being also enormously taxed by the
United States government, which
raises many millions of revenue on
domestic distilled spirits, was too ex-
pensive for common use, and as a con-
sequence the skill of the chemist has
been called into requisition to concoct
cheaper beverages which will. heat
up the stomach and inebriate the
brain. The result is that an incalcu-
liable quantity of fictitious liquors,
more or less poisonous, and which
never came out of still and contains
but little of spurious properties, has
gone into popular consumption. There
is no decrease in the drinking of what
is called whisky, but much of it is the
counterfeit poison stuff, and, as a con-
sequence, there is a sensible decrease
in the consumption of real whisky.
The news comes now that the distil-
lers of Kentucky have entered into
compact to close their establishments
after July l, for one year, under for
felture of 20 cents for each gallon of
whisky manufactured during the
period under contract. Nearly all the
distilers in the State of any impor-
tance have signed the contract, and it
is believed that the combine" will be
successfully carried out The object
of this movement, which has been at
tempted many times previously, is to
reduce the immense overstock of Ken
lucky whisky and harden the price.
1t is stated that the present stock of
whisky Gin bond" in the Kentucky
warehouses is AZ, ,704 1888 gallons, which
is an increase of about 100000 gal
Ions during the past month. The
monthly output of whisky i'm the Blue
Grass state is about two and quarter
million gallons In the United States
to-day are GA ,0OO, 900 gallons of whisky
in government bonded warehouses
awaiting the payment of tax and
withdrawal. besides a large quantity
in the hands of dealers.
We would be glad to believe that
the consumption of ardent spirits had
steadily decreased to bring about such
a result, but the indications do not
show this. There seems to be no re-
duction in the amount of alleged
whisky handed over the counters of
tho almost ipuIIrnarabla hnrroo,ns and
places where liquors are sold, but it
must be obvious that the cheap fluids
dispensed and consumed could never
have passed through the government
whisky tax mill. Nor is any of it il
licit or "moonshine" liquor, but
simply substance compounded for
the purpose.
The government unfoi .unately does
not concern itself with tLa protection
of the people against poisonous drinks.
1t is only solicitous to collect the tax
After that the adnlterators may work
their will on helpless populace. The |
government should either repeal the
tax, which encourages the arts of the
poisoner, or it should institute protec-
tive measures to insure the purity of |
the liquors consumed. If whisky be
an evil, how vastly multiplied is the
curse which comes from the widespread |
consumption of poisonous limitations
of it. Pure liquor is harmless in com
pariSOn,